CAMPAIGN Unethical London Unite takes on London’s ‘unethical’ top hotel bosses
You’d be forgiven for thinking that the police wouldn’t wave sub-machine guns in your face for distributing union leaflets. Well, not in the UK anyway.
You’d be wrong. Management at the five star Conrad London St James hotel called out a Metropolitan Police armed response unit to deal with Unite officials and activists who had the effrontery to speak to its employees outside the staff entrance.
“I suppose you could say we were armed and dangerous,” says Unite officer Dave Turnbull. “We were armed with Unite leaflets and we were dangerous because we were trying to persuade staff to join the union to secure better terms and conditions. I suppose from management’s point of view that was extremely dangerous.”
The police were incredulous when they found they had been called out to deal with peaceful trade unionists. In fact the officers wished the Unite activists all the best in their fight to win basic union rights.
But this hysterical management response to Unite activities gives you an idea of the attitude of the top half dozen hotel chains.
It’s a response which compares vividly with their ‘corporate social responsibility’ statements. Ironically most of the luxury hotel chains have signed up to the UN Global Compact which states, “Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining.”
Dave Turnbull finds it difficult to suppress a laugh when he reads this. Not one of the five star hotels in central London recognise a union and staff are routinely subject to ‘exploitation and victimisation’, says Dave. “Organisers are harassed and there is an unspoken lock- out as far as unions are concerned.”
Dave and Unite activist Sophie Shaw paint a picture of deeply dysfunctional workplaces, clearly on a par with the appalling conditions at Sports Direct – and in some senses worse because of its proximity to extreme luxury.
Many staff are ‘terrified’ of getting on the wrong side of managers who often insist that employees start early and finish late without being paid extra. Many – especially those with children – live in desperate poverty.
Rates of alcoholism and depression are extremely high and some resort to stimulants to keep going. Some kitchen staff report working 18 hour days, seven days a week. No wonder Unite’s weekly advice surgery for hotel workers is always packed.
A compelling new report from Unite, Unethical London points out that many hotels contract out the operational functions, simply concentrating on marketing their ‘brands’.
It enables them to wash their hands of workers’ terms and conditions.
As a consequence pay rates have plummeted to the national minimum wage and the number of zero hours contracts have soared.
FIVE STARS uniteWORKS Autumn 2016 1616 uniteWORKS Autumn 2016
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